Garage Sales and Veggie Dip

Jan here, with one of my favorite subjects: Garage sales. Yard sales. Rummages. Basement sales. Thrift store bargains. Whatever you want to call them.

Yup. I'm one of those. But I know I'm not alone here! Right, Ruthy???

Because it's all about living well on the means God has given us.

Garage sales were my regular Saturday morning addiction when our children were young.

That pair of OshKosh overalls cost fifty cents, if I remember right, and lasted through our four children before they were passed on. How can you beat that for a bargain?

Even though my garage saleing days have slowed down quite a bit, we still find time to stop by one or two on a Saturday morning...especially if they have books.

I always look at the books! See what I found last week?

I'm sure you're familiar with the Taste of Home magazine. Their cookbook comes out - what? - once a year? They sell it through direct mail advertising, and I've always thought I might get one. Someday.

25 cents.

Oh, sure, it isn't new. In fact, it's eight years old. But the previous owner didn't put a lot of wear and tear on it.

And I get a bunch of new recipes to browse through without sitting at my computer! Win/win!!!

Here's one of the recipes I found in this fabulous new toy. I changed it a bit to make it full-fat and zero sugar, rather than low-fat and higher sugar. You can switch the types of ingredients to make it fit your diet and lifestyle. :) The version I made would be an "S" if you're doing Trim Healthy Mama.

Creamy Herbed Salad Dressing

ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons milk
4 teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon Truvia, or sweetener of your choice
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Whisk the mayo, milk and vinegar together in a small bowl. Then add the rest of the ingredients and whisk.

That's it! Super quick and easy!

You can have this dressing over a bowl of greens or your favorite chopped salad...

What? You're not sure what a chopped salad is?

Talk about easy! Just chop your favorite greens and veggies together and mix them in a bowl. Add dressing and toppings, and eat it with a spoon. No more chasing that errant almond sliver around with your fork!

But if you're in the mood for a healthy snack, use the dressing this way:

This snack has 2 Tablespoons of the dressing, a few carrots
(carrots have higher carbs, so I put a limit on how many I include
in a Trim Healthy Mama S snack),
and as many celery sticks as I want. 

I wish I had some radishes in the fridge to go with this!

Meanwhile, there's only ONE DAY to wait until Naomi's Hope is released!

Okay, ALMOST "Available Now"!

Naomi has gotten some great reviews, including this starred review from Publisher's Weekly:

... Drexler's historical elements set a solid foundation for this unforgettable story of learning to trust God amid misfortunes, insecurities, and heartbreak....

And there is a giveaway on Goodreads that ENDS TOMORROW! So get over there and enter the drawing!!!

Enter the Goodreads drawing! 

Now that you've entered the drawing, are you ready to discuss bargain hunting? Maybe you found the Picasso painting hidden in someone's barn. Or a first edition of Dicken's Christmas Carol. Or maybe you found a shirt that became your five-year-old son's favorite.

What is your favorite garage sale find of all time?

Jan Drexler loves her family, her home, cooking and just about anything made by hand. But she loves her Lord most of all.

Stop by Jan's website to learn more about her books: www.JanDrexler.com

Copycat Salmon Caesar Salad!

Missy Tippens

A while back, Ruby Tuesday added a new item to their menu that I fell in love with! Grilled Salmon Caesar Salad.

This is the restaurant version that I adore. I always order the salmon cooked well done.

After ordering it several times, I decided I needed to make it at home.

First, I went looking for recipes for caesar dressing. I didn't have all the ingredients for any one recipe in particular, so I just started throwing in items to make my own version. It turned out delicious! And I guess it'll turn out differently each time I make it. :)

How do you like these for measurements...

about 3/4-1 cup mayo (I used two big squirts of the squeezable stuff)
1 squirt of dijon mustard (maybe 1 tsp)
pinch of chopped or minced garlic
1 squirt lemon juice
2 generous glugs of red wine vinegar
dash of Worcestershire sauce (about 1 tsp)
Olive oil until it seems like the right consistency (it's thick and will not be pourable so maybe about 2-4 TBS)
A shake or two of powdered parmesan (I put this in the dressing too)
pinch of salt and plenty of freshly ground pepper

Mix all ingredients with a whisk. I store this in my fun plastic Bell jars I showed you a while back. Store in fridge. It seems to last a few days just fine.

For the greens, I use Hearts of Romaine.
For the salmon, prepare it like I shared a few years ago. Click here. It's the very best way to make salmon!

I use shredded fresh parmesan cheese and croutons to finish.

To assemble:

Toss the lettuce with the dressing. Put on serving plate. Top with salmon, shredded cheese and croutons.

I didn't take a photo of the first try. I wish I had. It was so pretty! Close to the restaurant version. But I did take a photo of the next time I made it. On this version, I made it lower carb (no croutons) and added some white beans to add fiber. Which may seem odd. LOL But it was tasty too. :)

So here's a photo of my second version. I didn't toss the dressing in this photo. It's under the cheese and salmon. So it's not as pretty.

Give this a try. You'll love it!

Homemade Ranch Dressing

with Missy Tippens

Last weekend, my son and daughter came home for the weekend bringing friends (his girlfriend, her roommate) with them for their first visit to our home. We had a wonderful time! I can't believe I didn't take any photos. HOWEVER I did take a couple of photos Saturday afternoon as I was cooking.

I decided to serve chicken fettuccine Alfredo, which I've shared on here before (or maybe I shared a version without chicken).

I also served a salad and decided to make homemade dressing I'd seen Ree Drummond make on Food Network.

Here's a link to the original recipe. As I'm writing the recipe here for you, I realized I forgot the garlic, the paprika and the cayenne pepper!! I knew something was missing, and even wondered about adding garlic next time. LOL Man, I guess I got distracted. So you may want to check off items as you add them. :)

1 clove garlic (the missing garlic!) :)

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup real mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup Italian flat-leaf parsley chopped
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh chives chopped (very easy to do with kitchen scissors)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 to 1/2 cup buttermilk (as needed for desired consistency)
dash of hot sauce (which I planned to leave off)

The recipe calls for mixing everything together. But I made it in the blender. It turned out nice and green!

I made the dressing ahead of time and refrigerated it in these cool new "jars" I bought--Ball Plastic Freezer Jars.

Here's the pretty green dressing on my salad. Next time I'll try making it with all the ingredients! :)

Spring Forward with Coffee

I tweeted/posted this week that if a coffee company would produce an extra-caffeinated java called Spring Forward, I buy it in a heartbeat.

I don't spring forward well, even as I love the sunlit evenings available for walks with ManO. UGH, another reason to move to Hawaii where they don't have Daylight Savings Time.

Coffee helps me get through the getting used to DST part. Here's what I need, recited to the rhythm of "Here is the Church, Here is the Steeple."

Here is the coffee pot

Don't laugh at my little four cup coffee maker. It's called portion control.

Here is the coffee (from my favorite coffee roaster Muddy Dog Roasting Company)

Love the King's Daughters Inn coffee. Made for a bed and breakfast in Durham, NC.  

Remember to plug in the pot, add the water and coffee, and turn it on. (Um, I always forget to one of the four)

One of my favorite mugs from Yellowstone Park. I know Jan Drexler appreciates this one.

Then drink up a mug and see, because you can open your eyes.


Okay, that's pretty awful but hey, it's the day after Daylight Savings, a Monday as I'm typing this and I'm having to go for an extra pot. Or may I should have said it was Haiku. But then I'd have to count the syllables and there are way too many.  

But pondering my addiction to coffee did get me thinking about other ways  I could integrate coffee into my menus. There's never enough coffee.

NUMBER ONE IMPORTANT LESSON:  If you are using coffee in a recipe, it has to be STRONG. Double strength it. Make sure you can't see through it. Otherwise, that coffee flavor is just going to be week.

I could still see through this cup of coffee. NOT STRONG ENOUGH.

Entree: I found  a recipe I could adapt from Alton Brown's Molasses and Coffee Pork Chops. 
While the marinade was boiled down for the glaze, my food microbiology training reminded me that's not always the safe way to go. So I doubled the marinade/glaze part of the recipe, using one half to marinade the pork chops and throw away, the other half to boil down for the glaze. I also ditched the thyme. I oven broiled the chops because it's just not quite grilling season here yet. The flavor is more on the oriental side. I also think a lighter roasting works better as far as the coffee goes. 



Salad dressing: Yes, salad dressing. I looked at a lot of recipes using ground coffee beans but decided to use coffee as a substitute for lemon juice in an easy vinaigrette of oil and vinegar. Paired with greens and fruit, it's pretty tasty.

Dessert:  Sure there's coffee ice cream but have you ever made coffee sauce to pour over your ice cream? You make a simple syrup using 1:1 coffee and sugar, simmering it down while stirring constantly, adding one or two tablespoons butter and a teaspoon of vanilla after you take it off the stove. Cool and serve over ice cream or cake. Divine.

There you have it, an entire meal to perk you up!

So what about you, are you happy to Spring Forward? Did you need extra caffeine at the start of your week? Have you ever used coffee as an ingredient rather than a beverage?     

Basketball and Bleu Cheese: Dining Room Experiment, part 2

This past weekend a miracle occurred. I have witnesses. North Carolina State played #2 ranked Duke and won, won big time. I'd like to say I saw the game but every time State pulled ahead, ManO, my daughter and her boyfriend told me to leave the room. I can't help I'm both a State and a Duke grad. I'd be in the laundry room or my studio and hear a big roar of applause. I'd come into the family to see what was going on and State would mess up. So the family got to the point where they just pointed me out of the room. Yes, we are that superstitious about our Wolfpack.

Everyone  has their NC State shirts on. I made a nod to Duke with the blue and white tablecloth.

Lunch was actually Sunday dinner served in the dining room. We got so involved in our conversation about daughter's face turning red from my homemade baked Buffalo drummettes we missed the first ten minutes of the game. I also learned she survives too hot wings by coating them or drummettes in ranch dressing. Good to know. Score one for the dining room!

Of course, part of missing those first few minutes was due to our concentration on our wedge salads!

Gorgeous iceberg lettuce, a rarity this time of year, oven fried bacon but no tomato for daughter.

The kids had ranch dressing but ManO and I go traditional with bleu cheese. I have to make my own. No arguments. And it's easy.

Mayo, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce,bleu cheese  of choice. I used USA Buttermilk Blue.

Making dressing is really one of those things I never do the same twice. Salad dressing is also one of those things that means different amounts of ingredients depending on the person. In other words, improvise, taste it and add more of what you think is missing! But I love making my own because there are no ingredients I don't know are there!

Here is my quick and easy bleu cheese dressing recipe to use for anything, including lowering the temperature of hot wings and drummettes.

Bleu (Blue) Cheese Dressing  

1/3 cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
milk if needed to thin 
dash Worcestershire sauce
dash salt
blue cheese, crumbled

Using an immersion blender or a whisk and bowl, combine mayo, sour cream, Worcestershire, and salt until smooth and dressing consistency.

Add in blue cheese to taste. You can blend in a quarter cup for a smooth dressing or add a half cup of crumbles and stir.

Keeps in the refrigerator two days....if it lasts.

Serve over lettuce wedges or use for a celery and carrot dip.

Do you have game day superstitions? Are you a "house divided" when it comes to teams? Are you putting together recipes for the upcoming Super Bowl?   

Lavender Honey Balsamic Dressing

Lavender Honey Balsamic Salad Dressing

with Missy Tippens

One of our favorite restaurants in a nearby town, One Blue Duck, serves an amazing salad with shaved beets (usually golden) and some sort of bleu chese (gorgonzola, I think). And to top it off, it has this amazing lavender dressing made with lavender they grow out back. So I decided to try to make my own copy at home.

First, I did a search for dressings. I found this recipe that sounded similar at a blog called The Kitchen is My Playground. My photos can't compare to her gorgeous ones, so be sure to drop by to see it. Here's a link to the original dressing recipe (click here).

I made a few small adjustments. Here's my version…

6 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar (will try white balsamic next time)
2 T honey
1 T lemon juice
1 garlic clove, crushed (I used jarred minced)
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. dried lavender flowers

First, I took the advice from several of you to go to Penzey's Spices because I needed a trustworthy source of dried lavender.

Once that arrived, I was able to make my dressing.

I used my small, portable Hamilton-Beach smoothie blender. Put all ingredients inside and then blend.

Then I put it in the refrigerator to chill and got to work on the fresh beets.

Wash and peel one small beet. Then either slice thinly and chop into small pieces. Or shave it with a vegetable peeler. I think the shaving is probably better but I didn't think of it until later.

Place greens on the plate. Top with beets and other vegetables as desired. Add crumbled bleu cheese (I didn't have any). Then, after shaking well, drizzle on the chilled dressing.

It makes a beautiful salad!

P.S. My daughter doesn't really like the smell of lavender, so she didn't really care for this dressing. Just a warning. :)

ADDENDUM!

I forgot to do the promised RWA Part 2 post. But I'll post the cowboy photo I mentioned. Mary Curry will kill me for sharing it with her eyes half closed. :)

www.missytippens.com

Spring Salad

What a doozy of a winter this has been!

First we had this:

And then this:

Some more of this:

And plenty of this:

But now we're finally ready for some of this:

Sunshine and visiting the "boys on the hill." Now, this is what I call spring!

And spring means salads galore. Fruit, veggies, more veggies, more fruit....

Here's a simple salad I made for Easter dinner.

Spring Salad

Ingredients:

Spring lettuce mix, or spinach, or a combination

Strawberries

Feta Cheese

Slivered almonds

Raspberry Vinaigrette salad dressing

Throw everything together in a big bowl (amounts according to your taste), and toss well.

Is that easy-peasy, or what?

I used this Maple Grove Farms Sugar Free Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing I buy from Walmart, but any brand would do.

Or you can make your own with a tablespoon of minced onion, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon raspberry flavoring and a few frozen raspberries thrown in for color. Refrigerate for several hours before using.

The salad was scrumptious, and since we were eating with some folks from church at our pastor's home, the company was delightful.

Enjoy your spring days, everyone!

Super Heros – Kitchen Confessional Style

In the Steele household we have a long tradition of Superman affection. Everyone, from the three month old baby to ManO (get it, Man Of Steel) has a Superman  tee-shirt or two or four.  Don’t ask us to choose our favorite Superman either.  The comic version, George Reeves, Christopher Reeve, Smallville. We have loved them all. Except for the latest guy. They changed his uniform.  Don’t mess with the uniform. Why you say?  I have a shirt that says why! "The chicks dig the uniform."

Of course the kids expanded their superhero love to include the X Men, Wonder Woman, and others. Last weekend was a certain boy’s five year old birthday celebration. He requested everyone come in SUPER HERO costumes or at least a super hero tee shirt. Face it,  superheroes make play time better.  

When it comes to cooking there are certain foods like blueberries, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, spinach and walnuts that make our health better. They've earned the Super Food label because they contain the concentrated antioxidants, omega oils or vitamins our bodies need. Google and you will find varying lists of what is a superfood is and what might be best for certain health conditions or goals. Eat these and your body will thank you.

But then there are other foods that I consider my Kitchen Super Heroes, foods that aren't quite as  healthy. They make dishes special, take them up a notch.  Some of my faves include sprinkles, bacon, cheese, and chocolate. Add any of these and something plain goes fancy.

But my favorite Kitchen Super Hero of the moment is my Super Sauce/Dressing.  I have a base of ingredients I use to create a cold sauce, perfect for meat, seafood or even plain veggie salad.  It turns leftovers into a special meal without heating the kitchen. Depending on what I am serving, I add or subtract ingredients. 

This week, I roasted the last of the season's red peppers at 425 for 20 minutes until they turned black.

Food stylists know better than to put a food item on a clear dish. Sigh.

I took them out of the oven and covered the dish with aluminum foil. They steamed themselves for thirty minutes. I removed the skins and chopped them up. 

I pureed them in an immersion blender and added them to the base. Oh, may I sing a love song about my hand held blender?  Now there is a Super Hero appliance for you. Trust me, it looks plain and small, kind of like Clark Kent. BTW, did you know Clark Kent was named after Clark Gable? But man does it come to the rescue more times than not in my house!

And then I served it over sliced chicken and a bed of lettuce and cherry tomatoes. Luscious.

Super easy and super delicious!

Here is the recipe for making your own Super Sauce base, along with a few suggestions for complimenting different main ingredients.

Super Sauce/Dressing Base:

1/2 cup mayo

1/4 cup olive oil (add more or less if you want a sauce consistency or a dressing)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Super Sauce/Dressing Add-ins:

For seafood:  Add 1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning and juice of one half lemon

For beef: Add 1 tablespoon brown mustard, minced onion and a dash Worcestershire sauce

For Thousand Island type dressing: Add 2 T ketchup and minced pickles

For Blue Cheese: Add 1/4 blue cheese crumbles and dash Worcestershire sauce   

For Taco Salad:  Add 1 T salsa seasoning, diced tomatoes or chilis

Blending Instructions:

Blend base ingredients with a whisk, food processor or immersion blender. Add other ingredients and stir. Chill a few hours, best if overnight.  Serve over cold meat or veggies.

So what do you consider YOUR Super Hero or Super food? Do you have a simple addition to any recipe or meal that makes it special?